OPTIMISM AMONG MARKETERS
Following the attitudes of marketers is part of our ongoing Brand Growth research. DVJ Insights continuously talks to marketers via CMO interviews and an annual quantitative study, with already 4 years of data among 1000 marketers in the UK, the Netherlands, and Germany. In 2020, we learned that the corona crisis affected many industries: only 18% of marketers noticed their company’s revenue increase, while 52% noted a decrease. However, our most recent survey from January showed that marketers are more optimistic about 2021, with 23% expecting an increase in revenues and 34% expecting revenues to stay the same. However, marketers do think covid will have a long-term impact on businesses, with 74% predicting consumers will buy more online permanently.
PURCHASES SHIFT TO ONLINE
Our latest survey among consumers shows that people are reluctant to spend during this lockdown. Almost 2 in 5 people in the UK have postponed purchases in the past 3 months because of the coronavirus. This has not changed significantly from 6 months ago. However, people are willing to spend more money in certain categories, especially in the supermarket. People are buying more online and through e-commerce platforms, and indicate that this is not going to change, even if restrictions are behind us.
The consequence is that marketers really must innovate in this category and improve the current platforms, or develop new ones. The orientation and purchasing process is increasingly shifting to online and consumers indicate that this is permanent. But to innovate, it is important that this happens in the right way and that these innovations connect to what consumers find important.
INSIGHT TO INNOVATE
DVJ Insights has conducted a large-scale research into the success of Covid-based innovations and it is good to share these results again in the light of this changing consumer behaviour.
It turned out that not all corona-related innovations were successful. The best performing brands expanded their ‘core business’ and tapped into personal relevance. The most important thing in innovation remains the insight that is used to innovate. This was and still is important, and is the reason why so many innovations fail. We simply don’t listen enough to the customer or the consumer. DVJ studies this by listening to people’s own stories. This story shows where the friction lies and how it can best be used. If companies listen to these stories it is much easier to discover the RTBs and find an introduction strategy. However, it is important to take into account that the current crisis colours these stories and makes them relevant.
REQUEST THE REPORT
Curious about all the results? You can request the report through the form below.
RESEARCH METHOD DVJ INSIGHTS
The sample for this study consists of over 500 people per measurement, per country. This number is large enough for reliable results. In addition, a representative sample by gender and age, education level and region were used. Based on this sampling method, we can state that the results represent the opinion of the United Kingdom as it was at the time of measurement.